If the holes of the first jaw are in the proper position, drill holes in the same locations on the other jaw. I lined the drilled jaw on top of the undrilled jaw, clamped things down, and then drilled about 1/4" into the undrilled jaw, to mark the location. Then I removed the drilled jaw and drilled out the marked locations the same way I did the first.

If the holes of the first jaw are in the proper position, drill holes in the same locations on the other jaw. I lined the drilled jaw on top of the undrilled jaw, clamped things down, and then drilled about 1/4" into the undrilled jaw, to mark the location. Then I removed the drilled jaw and drilled out the marked locations the same way I did the first.

I used the factory edge of the half-panel of hardboard as a guide for cutting the ply. I wanted to cut a 5-1/2" strip, and my saw cuts 4-1/2" from the edge of the shoe, so I wanted the edge of the hardboard 10" from the edge of the ply. So I set my combination square to 10", and used it to mechanically set the distance. Hint - if you need two things to be precisely the same length, try to avoid measuring them separately. Use some mechanical mechanism for setting the distance.

Chan’s desire for strong, lasting, easily repeated joints using power tools makes for a fun and educational read. He also has a strong interest in traditional Chinese furniture, and shows how some of those joints can be cut with power tools. This book will not only teach you how to ma­chine about 100 useful joints, but will also open your eyes to using new, fun to make joints in upcoming projects. Chan assumes readers know how to use their machinery and power tools, so he focuses on the procedures required to produce the included joints.
Pyrography Workbook: A Complete Guide to the Art of Woodburning. It’s amazing what you can create with woodburning. You can make art that stands on its own, or use woodburning to personalize your crafts. In her book, Sue Walters talks about equipment, techniques, and safety. She also takes you step-by-step through 3 different projects for the beginner, intermediate, and the advanced woodburner. When I bought my first wood burner, I automatically purchased this book as well.
Pyrography Workbook: A Complete Guide to the Art of Woodburning. It’s amazing what you can create with woodburning. You can make art that stands on its own, or use woodburning to personalize your crafts. In her book, Sue Walters talks about equipment, techniques, and safety. She also takes you step-by-step through 3 different projects for the beginner, intermediate, and the advanced woodburner. When I bought my first wood burner, I automatically purchased this book as well.
I’ve built workbenches with more than 100 students. In every class, there’s one guy who wants to put a vise on every corner of the bench. Not because it’s a partner’s bench for two people. Just because he wants it that way. While I support your freedom to choose, I also don’t want to spend two weeks installing complex tail-vise hardware on your bench when we could be building furniture instead.
If you’re even the slightest bit interested in the history of Japanese furniture, you will love this thorough collection of chests. The attention to detail is astounding, the photographs glorious and the historical insight intriguing. This is exactly what you would expect from a book that covers such a proud history of chest mak­ing on the land of the rising sun. Almost 100 pages of colour plates are complemented by information on typical construction materials, finishing techniques and regional charac­teristics. This book will please the antique collector, interior designer or wood­worker equally.

To develop the material, we editors asked ourselves—and dozens of top woodworkers—what’s likely to go wrong at each stage of a project. We really dug deep to make sure we didn’t just repeat the types of advice you see in the average magazine. We ended up with a list of more than 500 problems covering everything from design and layout, to stock preparation, joinery, finishing and more. Then, we reached out to top woodworkers around the country for their solutions. The result was a 320-page book filled with some of the best advice you could ever find from more than 75 master craftsmen, including Marc Adams, Mike Dunbar, Graham Blackburn, Toshio Odate, David Marks, Frank Klausz and Lonnie Bird.

First, cut one long edge. Second, cut a short edge, making sure it's square to the long edge you just cut. Clamp both pieces of the edging you'll be using along the long edge you've cut, and measure the width of the base plus 1/4-1/2", mark that, and then lay out a line through the mark that is square to the end you've cut, then cut along the line. Finally, cut the remaining short edge square to both long edges. (The length of the top doesn't need to precisely match anything, so we don't need to bother with clamping the trim before measuring.)
With the inner jaw fastened to the bench, I used the router to flush-trim the jaw to the benchtop, across the top and down the sides adjacent to the top (stopping short of the discontinuity between the top and the legs). I'd thought this would be the best way to match up the jaw against the top, but I'd not do it this way again. It was very difficult to hold the router tight against the face of the jaw, and the result was a surface that wasn't as even as I had hoped.
I marked the holes by putting a dowel center in the end of a long piece of 1" dowel. Run it through the holes in the base plate, and bang on its end with a mallet. Rotate it a bit and bang it again, and repeat. Odds are the dowel center won't be precisely in the center of the dowel, so you'll be making a small ring of marks. The center of the hole is, of course, the center of that ring.
The end vise will have both jaws made out of 1-1/2" thick oak. The front vise has its moving jaw made of 1-1/2" oak, but uses the edge of the bench as its stationary jaw. So while for the end vise, if we mount it lower, we can make both the jaws deeper to compensate, for the front vise we cannot, so we want it mounted as close to the edge of the bench as possible.

The edges of MDF are fragile, easily crushed or torn. MDF is also notorious for absorbing water through these edges, causing the panels to swell. In Sam Allen's original design, he edged the MDF with 1/4" hardboard. This edging is one of the complexities that Asa Christiana left out in his simplified design. I think this was a mistake. MDF really needs some sort of protection, especially on the edges.

The Fall 2018 issue of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts features a variety of projects, patterns, and features, as well as interesting techniques. This issue is a part of the regular magazine subscription. It is also available from your favorite retailer or from Fox Chapel Publishing,www.foxchapelpublishing.com, 1-800-457-9112. In This Issue Scroll down for a […]

Anyway, the reason I bring all this up is not to brag, but to alert you to a great deal. Recently, we had a chance to acquire the last print copies of these five books, which were sitting, overlooked, in a warehouse. The books mainly have black and white interiors and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations. And every one offers more than 300 pages of excellent advice on woodworking projects and techniques.

Being a lover of Japanese design and tools, I’m embarrassed to say I only picked this book up in the last year. I was anticipating a straightforward, almost encyclopaedic, approach documenting the history and use of most Japanese woodworking tools. I got that, but also so much more. The stories Odate tells of his youth and apprenticeship are truly jaw-dropping, and reveal as much about working wood in Japan as what life in a fascinating and secluded Pacific country was like when he was young. I was five minutes into this book, and I guess I had an astonished look on my face, when my wife politely asked how I was enjoying the book. I looked up in bewilderment, paused for about five seconds, and said “It would take me an hour to explain what I’ve learned in the last five minutes,” and went on reading. Even though this book has been around for decades, it’s worth reading today.

Grizzly is a company currently undergoing an upheaval. This brand was once known as a manufacturer of professional grade tools and equipment for woodworking products. Though, in recent years, that reputation has begun to slip a bit since being bought by the Chinese company SIEG. These days, whether the Grizzly product stands up to its previous standards of excellence often has more to do with what you are buying than the company itself.